Interplay from Pulp Nocturne 1930, the Savage Worlds Adventure RPG.

This is some of the interplay between a couple of the regular players in Pulp Nocturne 1930, the Savage Worlds Adventure RPG.

 . . to soft noise which may momentarily prompt him to reach for his pistol. No need to follow through with such an action however, as what may have seemed like awaking to another nightmare quickly turns into a better reality . . . of sorts. He sees Rachel near the foot of his bed standing over an ironing board and moving an electric iron back and forth rather slowly. “Okay, cleaned and pressed,” she murmurs before setting down the iron and hanging Alphonse’s pants on a wooden valet. “So he rises! How was your kip sleeping beauty?” Rachel queries with a smile. He notices that she’s wearing a sleazy (but, sexy) dress. The skirt is more revealing than what Rachel is known for wearing (almost to the knees), and features spaghetti shoulder straps as well. Alphonse knew Rachel had a pretty nice rack but, this is probably the best view he’s seen from her. If her make-up was as sleazy as her dress then Alphonse would swear Rachel would make a perfect “lady of the night” but, her face is virtually devoid of it. It doesn’t add up. Rachel is still very attractive without cosmetics however.

Without effort, Miss Crosby silently walks over to the side of the bed and stands akimbo. Looking down over Alphonse with what seems to be a new vigor she says, “Get up my man! Much has happened since your well earned beauty rest!” Rachel hits him rather vigorously with a pillow. “We are going to need your expertise, and not just because Captain Nemo has reclaimed his ship!” she explains in her distinguished English accent as she removes a tress of gorgeous blonde hair from the corner of her mouth. “We have specimens for you to analyze Herr Cassel. Our visit to the Fortune and Glory was very beneficial. Where is your bloody detector? You’re going to need it my dear.” By now Alphonse can smell the overpowering effect of an excessive amount of cheap perfume coming from Rachel. He’s never known her to wear cheap perfume, let alone excessive amounts of any fragrance! “Get cleaned up and after your dinner you can start.”   Rachel is bordering on being flat out domineering at this point. The groggy Prussian may not know whether to be put off, or turned on . . . he’s probably both, knowing Alphonse!

“Fraulein, Guten Morgan, it appears I had pushed myself harder than I thought… and it appears you have been in this country too long. My detector is sitting over there on the desk.”

The groggy German walks slowly towards the latrine

“I trust your time was well spent, can I get a report?”

“Alphonse!” Rachel hurriedly tosses Alphonse a garment and spins away from him long enough for him to appropriately cover himself.  

“Um-Alphonse, good lord! Alphonse, make yourself presentable and I’ll be back in a moment with a meal!” Rachel stammers due to the apparent awkwardness or Alphonse’s lack of modesty. Darting out of the room, Rachel returns in about ten minutes with a couple of ham sandwiches and glasses of milk, setting a tray down on a table in the room. She begins setting a makeshift table.

“Have a seat Alphonse. I, the doctor, Monk and Renny gained access to the tramp steamer ‘Fortune and Glory.’ I’ve been meaning to pay a visit to this vessel for the bloody longest. On board we found a lot of surprises. Apparently, there are a lot of artifacts that were contained within, or previously shipped by this vessel that pertain to everything that’s been going on. We even found that Bala was there. I don’t know if you were acquainted but, we met her on Ba-, on Mars. The ship had a very unusual power plant, very advanced. You would have been fascinated with it. The ship captain claimed that it was a Tesla design.”

Rachel finishes setting the two places at the table and then sits down herself. Alphonse notices a small caliber pistol laying on the tray as if it was just another piece of silverware, as well as the fact Rachel is barefoot. “We found a crate of grapefruit sized oricalcum spheres there that possessed tremendous energy!” she exclaims as she sets her napkin in her lap. “Oh, pardon me for a moment but, how did the call to your university friend’s go herr Cassel, or did you reach them?” Rachel takes a bite of her sandwich and watches Alphonse’ for his response.

Yes, I spoke to him. He is perplexed at parts, but told us [insert DM EXPOSITION HERE]” 

He also told me he thinks there is more, but he has to do some research. 

He quiets down as he finishes his meal, slightly ravenous in his rate of consumption.

This meal is one of your better ones, Fraulein.  

Now let’s get to work on seeing what you brought me to analyze, shall we?

“Alphonse…Al…Alphonse! You must masticate your food more slowly or you may experience indigestion! I know you are famished but, you must not bolt your food,” Rachel scolds right before leaning forward and dabbing the corner of his mouth with a napkin. 

“We discovered some unusual crystal or glass like pins in one crate. They resonated in much the same way the tuning forks here do . . . the ones that cause us excruciating pain. We then found another crate…you may find it interesting that it was marked Bayer-many crates were Alphonse. We opened it and found spheres like the one I already mentioned to you. The doctor held one in his hand and it became unstable. We heard a strange sound. Monk grabbed it, ran and promptly heaved it overboard. There was a tremendous explosion which rocked the whole ship!”  Rachel explains between modest bites of her sandwich. Momentarily stopping to check whether the small pistol is loaded or not, she continues. . .

“I surmised that those spheres are some sort of fuel pellet. In this reality there is a slower more controlled release of energy when used correctly but, by touching it the doctor triggered a quick and uncontrolled release of energy due to his being out of phase with this reality. I asked the doctor if the weight of the sphere seemed to intuitively correspond to its volume and felt texture. In his opinion it didn’t…And he did seem to be of the opinion that the cores of the spheres consisted of a different material than the outer layer.” At that moment, Rachel hesitates as she looks what remains of her sandwich. “You’re absolutely right herr Cassel. This sandwich is very scrumptious!” Rachel sips some of her milk before setting about to finish off the remains of her meal.

“Later, those…those things…those spheres came to life and attacked us. This may sound a bit bazaar herr Cassel but…they were filled with…with…madness and chaos…with actual SOULS if you will,” the blonde haired beauty explains with an eerie dread that overcomes her from out of nowhere.  “We have an inert specimen for you to examine. We need to know more about it, and your research will be the first step. We have another lead as well…and after 2 PM tomorrow, maybe even yet another,” Rachel explains in her charming English accent, right before she dabs her mouth for the final time with her serviette. Without apparent thought, Rachel leans back, pulling out her cigarette case and crossing her shapely legs. Taking out a cigarette, she sets the case down for Alphonse. “You’re welcome to a smoke.” Rachel strikes a match and lights her cigarette up. “Are you ready to head down and look at what we’ve got for you to examine?”

Alphonse takes one out and lights it with a match. 

“Well, it’s amazing what some rest will do, no? It sounds like you and the doctor had some fun. I trust no one was seriously hurt?

“Why didn’t you use my match Alphonse? It was already lit! Germans. I doubt I’ll ever truly understand you fellows,” Rachel whispers as she rubs her right leg with a grimace.  

“Well, the doctor took a good wallop to the chin from the ship captain’s rifle butt…and I took a rather humiliating thrashing from those spheres.” With that, Rachel stops for a moment and exhibits a ‘1000 yard stare’ as she looks out of a window. . .

“Um, yes . . . you are right. That’s why I forced you to the last time I was here. Rest is very important and often underrated.”

Exhaling smoke from both her nostrils and mouth, Rachel continues.” Some of the ship’s crew was lost to those damned things. I don’t remember if you were with us when those things attacked us in the New York bureau office before all this bloody reality rubbish got totally out of control but, if you were then you are well acquainted with the lethality of those things.” By now Rachel’s brow is a bit furrowed and she’s shifting uneasily in her seat. Her hand reaches out to embrace the comfort of the small pistol sitting nearby but, not so gracefully as in the past. There is a barely discernible nervousness to her movement now. “The 1st mate’s head was dashed to smithereens, and other crew members met similar fates. It was ghastly Alphonse.” By now Rachel is folded up in her chair as if the temperature was below freezing. Suddenly, Rachel seems to snap out of her funk as she stands up with vigor. “Let’s go look at this specimen Alphonse. Ready? I think Monk or the doctor has it at the moment. I’ll take you to it.”  

Yes, I believe I was there, or rather I remember fighting something in the office. Let’s look at the newest member of the menagerie of things trying to kill us, shall we?

Lead the way, Fraulein. 

Rachel collects the dishes, leads Alphonse on a slight detour and drops off the dishes. She then takes her pistol, which Alphonse by now is sure to be a .32 caliber Remington, and sticks it in the left pocket of his jacket. From there she locks her arm in his and holds on firmly, almost to the point of discomfort. “This way please.”

Rachel leads Alphonse to a lab room in another part of the floor. “Monk should be around here somewhere but, the artifact is over there. Let’s get some simple measurements of weight, hardness, volume, and the like for starters and go from there. Is there anything else I can do for you now? I can assist if you would like.” She says as she fishes her pistol out of his pocket.

Yes Fraulein, let’s see what my detector has to say about our little friends, shall we?

 

 

SPECIAL Pulp Nocturne 1930 Gaming Session

Greetings Folks,

The following is our impending game schedule. It has always been my intention to include sessions for doing board games,

Thursday, April 6th, 3:30PM to ∞; Pulp Nocturne 1930
Saturday, April 8th, 3:30PM to ∞; Pulp Nocturne 1930
Saturday, April 15th, 3:30PM to ∞; ; Board Game Saturday
Saturday, April 22nd, 3:30PM to ∞; Pulp Nocturne 1930
Saturday, April 29th, 3:30PM to ∞; Pulp Nocturne 1930

Pulp Nocturne 1930, is a Savage Worlds role-playing game experience. The setting is 1930 New York. Strange things have been happening. The mortal coil has been threatened by the awakening of powers that should no longer be.

Board Game Saturday will feature board game selections from a variety of sources. Several days before a Board Game Saturday, details of the board games to be played will be discussed and posted.

Also there will be additional games played based upon the availability of folks and their varying work schedules.

Please take a moment and let me know if this is feasible on your part. The sooner I know who is available, the better I can coordinate our gaming efforts for the weekend.

Horror Master Noire AKA Alan Meranda Bone_Dddy@Yahoo.com

Davisburg, MI 48350

#PulpRPG #SavageWorlds #RealmsofCthulhu #Cthulhu #HorrorRPG #DocSavage

Breaking News! Spring Pulp Nocturne 1930 Schedule Updated

Pulp Nocturne 1930 Plays at Flat Land Games in Wixom, MI Sundays

Pulp Nocturne 1930 at Flat Land Games in Wixom

Pulp Nocturne 1930 at Gen Con 2013

Capes and Calamity This Sunday August, 21st at Pandemonium Games

DETAILS ABOUT CAPES AND CALAMITY

PUBLIC DOMAIN SUPER HEROES

GREETINGS FOLKS!

During one of the recent gaming sessions of the pulp supers role playing game Capes and Calamity I had mentioned this website:  Public Domain Super Heroes.

Public Domain Super Heroes is a collaborative website about comic book, film, literary, or pulp characters in the public domain that have appeared in comics or fit in a common comic book genre such as the masked vigilante, caped crusader, or jungle lord.

In the early days of comics, publishing companies came and went with great frequency. Most of the defunct companies never bothered to renew their Copyrights. Many were bought out by other companies that also failed to do so. For instance, DC bought out Quality, but evidently made the same mistake as many other companies: confusing the actual possession of the original property with legal ownership of the characters and stories depicted therein. Hence, while they owned all the remaining prints and plates of hundreds of comics, they failed to renew the Copyright on most of the original printed material.

The Copyright laws in the United States have changed several times over the past century. The changes made in 1960s, 1970s and 1990s significantly extended copyright terms for the works which were still in copyright at that point. While they will probably lapse into public domain in some point, it won’t happen for quite a while. For our purposes, much of what was created in the 60s and beyond will be unusable for quite some time.

The Public Domain consists of works and ideas that nobody may claim as their own. The wheel can’t be Trademarked, the King James Bible can’t be Copyrighted, and the Waterbed cannot be patented. Improvements and variations CAN be protected; Firestone and Michelin are Trademarked wheels, Bibles with the words of Jesus printed in red or having maps of the Holy Land added can be Copyrighted, and a specific design of Waterbed can be patented. In terms of print media, the Public Domain consists of works that existed before Copyright law (Don Quixote or the Illiad), those that are too old to be protected any more (Frankenstein and Dracula), and those whose Copyrights have run out and weren’t renewed (like the characters here). Finally, real-life historical figures are, by definition, in public domain.

Public Domain is a legal issue, so by its very nature, it can be confusing. The standard for trademark infringement is called “confusingly similar.” The standard for copyright infringement is called “substantially similar.”

Cartoon characters can be protected under both copyright and trademark law. Copyright of literary characters was originally based on the written works, but cartoon characters, and by extension, comic book characters have a visual representation.

To complicate matters further, some “public domain” works may actually be “orphan works”. “Orphan works” as the term is understood in the trade means works that may still be protected by copyright, but which have been abandoned by their copyright owners, or for which no copyright owner remains in existence.

~Horror Master Noire AKA Alan

SAVAGE WORLDS DELUXE REVIEW

Savage Worlds Deluxe
by Pinnacle Entertainment
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=92743&it=1&SRC=newsletter
Price: $19.99

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (from Keith (Savage Troll) Athey)

Review
A Deluxe treatment of the Savage Worlds Core rules brings a few new elements without alienating the throngs of Savages that hold their SW Explorer’s Editions as the best RPG they’ve ever bough t. Or, at least the best value and definitively lives up to it’s Fast, Furious, and Fun pulpy play goodness.

This review is really about a first glance. A first blush of what the SWD (as I’m sure it’s going to be referred to) will really have to prove itself over time as game adventures accommodate the new elements. After listening to several podcasts with some good hints dropped, it seems to be a ‘take it or leave it’ addition that works with the SWEX audience instead of trying to replace it. I’ve heard they will have a downloadable pdf for the SW:EX folks that has the additional rules that will function as a SWEX addendum of sorts. Obviously they’ll leave all the additional non-rule material as an incentive to get the SWD, but lets confirm that.

Those that have the original Savage Worlds Hardbound will notice that we’re seeing the evolution of a game system that has gone from the 146 page hardbound that was a fun alternative to d20 (d20 conversion guide included), to the 160 page (and famously $10) Explorers Edition and now back to a hardbound Deluxe Edition. I believe everyone can admit that the SW:EX form factor took SW from established indie/fringe to something every gamer and podcast has talked about for the past few years. I grinned and chuckled to myself as I made my weekly game store visit many months ago and saw the DnD 4e “Essentials” format books. I thought “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!” In a way, it’s one of the nicest compliments Pinnacle could have received. WOTC’s 4e Gamma World rules were also in SWEX sized format but proved that the right size with crap rules is still a poor combination. That’s another rant for another time. Recently, I’ve seen Troll Lord’s 3 book, smaller than SWEX, Castles and Cr usades “Digest” set that has gone a bit too far. But, you get the point, the market has changed and Pinnacle was a driver to a new and better way.

The covers of the 3 SW editions tell an evolving story. We see it visually. Originally SW is carved in stone and with the Deluxe Edition’s SW logo – it’s embossed gold. But for those of us who loved DnD in it’s primitive days have learned, really great art doesn’t a great system make, but it helps.

First Blush:
– Great Art. Cover: newish logo with multiple genres telling the story. Full page ads for Pinnacle settings between the Intro and Chapt 1: Character Creation that capture the different genres nicely. The Ripper’s ad with it’s hunter sporting wolverine-like claws confronting a Promethean monstrosity rocks! Lots of full page great looking art sprinkled throughout.
– Design Notes – as you could guess, it’s a paragraph that focuses on an aspect of the game that the designers want to emphasize. Good insight from the creators!
– GUTS are gone! – out of the core rules and into setting rules that need it. Makes sense.
– Dramatic Tasks – adds a mechanic for when a hero is in a dramatic situation and needs to perform a task to save the day under a tight time restriction. This mechanic or element adds to the feel of the pressure.
– New Setting Rules – ie “Blood & Guts: Characters can spend Bennies on damage rolls! Use this rule when you really want to up the carnage.” Also, Born A Hero, Critical Failures, Fanatics, and Gritty Damage…. are some other examples. Gritty Damage sounds ALOT like the styles found in Reality Blurs: Realms of Cthulhu. Interesting! There are quite a few new ideas here that can really add a new feel to the very same adventures you’ve played.
– Interludes – essentially using character down-time to add to character development. A simple mechanic that involves the GM picking a character and that player picks a card (Clubs-tragedy, Spades-Victory, Hearts-Love, and Diamonds-Desire). The player then tells the tale of the type chosen (tragedy, love, etc..). Assuming a moving or entertaining tale is told, a reward is given of a Benny or Adventure Card chosen by the player.
– GM section – The Countdown – (a Design Note) put a limit or sense of urgency to limit those that are taking too long to make decision of what to do next. Not to be overused.
Fun new One-Sheet adventures

While not exhaustive, I think you’ll agree there’s quite a bit of good new stuff to add to our Savage Worlds adventures. I didn’t get the feeling that the system suddenly changed but just had some additional mechanics that can add to the fun…and some stress! I think I’ll go start prepping some stories for an interlude.

Here’s a much longer list of features culled from the Pinnacle forums:

CHANGES

– Guts skill removed from core rules (but mentioned as a possible setting rule)
– Driving is now a free action unless the character is performing a maneuver
– Leadership Edges can be used on Wild Cards
– Background Edges can be taken after character creation
– Double Barrel Shotgun slightly tweaked in how it works
– A Shaken while on Hold loses Hold Status
– Shaken results now merely limit the character to free actions (instead of no actions) and do not halve the character’s Pace
– new Incapacitation table (including some “Bleeding Out” rules)
– Healing can now only be attempted on each individual’s fresh wounds once in the “Golden Hour.” (Plus an attempt to revive if the target is Incapacitated.) They can’t cause an additional wound through rolling a 1 or less however.
– area effect attacks now get an extra 1d6 damage for a raise (like most attacks)
– prone defenders may no longer rise to defend themselves automatically (it requires an action and takes 2″ of movement)
– new Chase rules (also, the Climb stat for aircraft works differently in this context)
– tweaks to some powers (e.g., the Bolt power can be used for multiple bolts, or one increased damage bolt, but not both at once)

ADDITIONS

– designer notes (explanations and reflections on the rules by the PEG folks)
– archetypes (character templates that let you create NPCs easily on the fly, or allow new players to jump right in)
– example Races (e.g., elf, dwarf, android, etc.)
– race creation rules (similar to those found in the Fantasy Companion or Slipstream)
– clarified rules on common knowledge v. specific knowledge
– Knowledge: Language rules
– about 20 new Edges (including some new combat and leadership edges)
– many more vehicles included in the gear section (more similar to the old hardback SW rules than SW:EX)
– some notes for playing without miniatures, including how to approximate area templates without a battle map
– rules for Improvised Weapons
– rules for Push (which can be used to push, shield bash, or knock someone prone)
– rules for Rapid Attack (basically three attacks in one round, all at a penalty)
– rules for Firing Blind
– rules for Social Conflicts
– rules for Dramatic Tasks (basically performing tasks with a time limit – e.g., diffusing a bomb)
– rules for Interludes (sort of like little “flashback” scenarios for in between major parts of the plot)
– a section on common Setting Rules (e.g., the Guts skill, gritty damage, etc.)
– inclusion of a bunch of new powers (including many from from the Fantasy Companion)
– inclusion of power trapping rules
– Combat Ratings (notes on balancing and scaling combat encounters)
– several one-sheet adventures
– a character sheet

To find even more, go to: Pinnacle Forum SWEX to SWD